Today’s Budget is a mixed bag, but it comes up short for much of rural Devon. I was pleased to see the scrapping of the gas standing charge, which I called for in a House of Commons debate last week. Yet homes that heat with oil or LPG deserve to be treated fairly.

East Devon MP calls for gas standing charges to be scrapped

Richard Foord, who represents Honiton and Sidmouth, raised the issue of standing charges during a Commons exchange with Energy Minister Michael Shanks.

midweekherald.co.uk

On Monday, MPs debated the performance of Royal Mail. The motion urged the Government to work with Royal Mail to improve its service. Behind every delivery target is a postie on a round, and in Kentisbeare the village knows exactly what theirs is worth.

Storm Boelo hasn't touched the sides. The hosepipe ban is still in place across Cullompton, Honiton, Sidmouth, Colyton and Axminster. Even the fire service is training with limp hoses. To reflect on these apparently arid conditions, I used a gap in the weather to visit Seaton Wetlands.

In March 2025, SFI closed to new applications without warning. It reopened this September, the entire budget vanished in around six hours, and farmers who missed out must now wait until 2027. Twice in 18 months, farmers in Devon who wanted to do the right thing have been left with nowhere to go.

The Jackdaw gas field approved today will do nothing to cut residents' energy bills. The Minister confirmed as much in the Commons. Everyone on mains gas pays a standing charge of more than £100 a year before they use a single unit. I asked the Minister what the Government will do to remove it.

Please sign my petition: richardfoord.org.uk/eastdevonline People across East Devon have an hourly service even when the line is running on a normal schedule. It has single track along much of the route, and ageing diesel trains that are under capacity and overcrowded.

Congratulations to Dr Mary Ryan, elected yesterday as the new Liberal Democrat councillor for Bradninch on Mid Devon District Council - with a remarkable 72% of the vote. Well done to Mary, and to every volunteer who helped in her campaign.

This afternoon I met the Water Minister, Emma Hardy, on the day the Government declared severe drought across our area, and other areas supplied by Wimbleball reservoir. Severe drought is the highest level there is, and our part of Devon sits in the eye of it.

met the Citizens Advice team recently to hear about their Honiton Axminster, Ottery St Mary, Sidmouth and Seaton operations. Their office on Honiton High street may have closed, but their first-rate volunteers continue to see dozens of people who need help.

At Goonvean in Cullompton, I was shown round the new Engineering Centre of Excellence, which serves to bring on more apprentices. We also discussed how bringing trains back to Cullompton would help staff get to work. Investment in the town has to keep pace with employers like Goonvean.

The Powder Monkeys Explorer Sea Scouts in Uplyme invited me along to talk about "Parliament Week". Their points on rural transport and post-16 education are ones I will take back to Westminster. Thank you, Explorers, for hosting me and keeping me on my toes.

At Blackdown Farm Vets in Dalwood, I heard how bovine TB takes a heavy toll on farmers - on their mental health and their finances. A new TB control strategy deserves to be debated in Parliament in the coming months.

A productive Metro Board meeting, which I co-chair with Gideon Amos MP, on the new stations at Cullompton and Wellington. Cullompton has waited since 1964 for its trains to return, and plans are progressing.

A pleasure to speak to pupils at St John's School, Sidmouth about how Parliament works. They care deeply about their community, from cleaning up our polluted waterways to having more spaces locally to go and have fun. Thank you for having me.

Fracking should be subject to a complete ban in England and Wales. Richard Tice called fracked shale gas 'treasure', in a debate on banning fracking. He reminds me of a character from Stevenson's "Treasure Island".

A farmer at the NFU's stakeholder day near Broadclyst missed out on SFI funding because they were at a family hospital appointment on the day it opened. The window shut in under six hours. I have added my name to Sarah Dyke MP's letter to the Environment Secretary. SFI should not be a lottery.

On Monday I joined a Demos panel at Lib Dem conference on hostile states weaponising our information environment. The next day, the PM announced a National Centre for Information Defence, as the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee urged in March. My test: public-facing and answerable to Parliament.

Labour's Local Government Reorganisation would have placed Honiton, Cullompton, Colyton, Sidmouth, Ottery St Mary, Seaton and Axminster into one enormous rural council incorporating Salcombe and Ilfracombe. That decision has now been paused for a review. Read my thoughts in the Midweek Herald here:

COLUMN: Are we nearly there yet?

In our car it usually came from the back seat before we'd even reached Tiverton.

midweekherald.co.uk

Devon's council shake-up is paused, not stopped. In this video, I set out what the local government reorganisation plans for a new Devon Council would mean for Honiton, Sidmouth, Cullompton, Axminster, Seaton, Ottery St Mary - and the rest of the Honiton & Sidmouth constituency.

The Government plans a visitor levy charged as a percentage of each overnight stay, with no national cap. Devon businesses tell me they fear fewer bookings. My message to Ministers: a tax created with city breaks in mind could reduce the number of visitors to Devon.

The EU's ban on Russian LNG starts at the beginning of 2027. Pipeline gas is permitted until the autumn. That is another year of European money reaching Moscow. I asked the Defence Secretary what he is doing about it. Unity on Ukraine has to include switching off the gas imports.

I joined ITV West Country to discuss NHS dentistry in the Honiton and Sidmouth constituency.

Axminster, Honiton and Feniton sit on the West of England line. Reduced timetable since late July - the second summer running that drought has shrunk the embankments beneath the track. My ask of the Leader of the House was simple: a railway built for the climate we have and that we will have.

£32 million for cooling and ventilation in NHS hospitals was announced today. In time, the school estate will need the same. Seven children at Littletown Primary in Honiton wrote to me after their school closed for two days in June and I shared their sentiments with the Health Secretary.

At the NFU's Back British Farming Day reception this morning with David Chugg, NFU South Regional Board Chair and NFU Devon County Chair. Devon has devastating bout of bluetongue, more than any other English county.

On Thursday, MPs debated the intelligence assessment that treats global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse as a threat to our national security. It is a framing that researchers at the University of Exeter - a few miles from where I live - have cautioned against.

Since this plan to carve-up Devon was announced, Liberal Democrats have fought it at every turn. I will not pretend we did it alone; the Govt's legal advice changed, and four counties took Ministers to court. Yet the argument they have paused to reconsider is ours.

Water company bosses were asked whether they would swim in the water their own firms discharge into. Not one said yes. If it isn't good enough for them, it isn't good enough for people who live in Sidmouth, Seaton, Beer and beyond. inews.co.uk/news/water-f...

We invited 9 water firm bosses to swim in their local bathing spot. Zero said yes

These CEOs earn seven-figure salaries and insist their water quality is 'excellent'. Yet they have suddenly become very hard to reach...

inews.co.uk

Every recess I take to the road across east and mid Devon, from the smallest villages to the market towns. The feedback I come away with is honest and specific, and it tells me what people here care about. Now Parliament is back, those conversations come with me.

Almost £1 out of every £5 we spend in children's social care is taken out as profit This is wrong. No one should be profiting from children's care Thank you, @richardfoordld.bsky.social, for speaking up Add your name to our petition: vist.ly/5h7pk